Although Steve Gladstone did some positive things at California during his three years as athletic director, Cal alumni considered him a good AD for two reasons: One, he hired Jeff Tedford. Two, he kept Jeff Tedford.

The university athletic department revolves around the stoic, 45-year-old football coach with the cool wrap-around sunglasses. He has done more than just breathe life into a football program that had descended below rock bottom. He has made it a Top 10 team, perhaps even a BCS game team; maybe even, dare we say it, a national title contender. If Cal pulls off an upset over No. 1 USC on Saturday — and there are those who think it will — the Bears will put itself in the Orange Bowl conversation.

“This is the game all our fans were circling on the calendar,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.  “It may be the biggest game in the program’s history.”

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It’s hard to imagine that Cal is the only Pac-10 team that hasn't finished in first at least once the past 11 years, and, just three years ago, had a dismal 1-10 season that was worse than the record suggests, if that’s possible.

The Cal student body is not the type that goes into hysterics over its sports teams, but the alumni are beside themselves. The crowd of 58,494 for Cal’s home opener against New Mexico State might not suggest fan excitement to a Big Ten fan, but it more than doubled the 24,692 at the home game against New Mexico State two years ago and practically represents a college football mania in the Bay Area, where pro sports rule sports fans’ habits.

With Tedford’s firm hold on every aspect of the Cal program and his penchant for creating stars out his quarterbacks, the good times may be rolling for a while at Cal.

If Tedford stays.

Ever since the middle of Tedford’s first season, Cal fans seemed resigned to the fact that Tedford would abandon them for a more lucrative job, just as Bruce Snyder and Steve Mariucci did when they had some success at Berkeley. Tedford, however, has hinted that he might stay awhile, but only if Cal follows through with its plans for an overhaul of the stadium facilities that will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 million.

His contract, rewritten after his first season, gives him an annual salary of $800,000, and if Cal should reach a BCS game, the incentive bonuses would bring it to $1.2 milliion. But the $1 million buyout clause dwindles to $500,000 if Cal does not break ground on the renovation by Dec. 15, and the buyout disappears entirely if it is not started by Dec. 15, 2005.

On the incentive side, Tedford gets a $500,000 bonus if he is Cal’s head coach when the first game at the renovated stadium is played. The problem is that Cal has a long way to go to raise the necessary funds, and new athletic director Sandy Barbour arrived less than a month ago and recognizes the window of opportunity is closing. Keeping Tedford should solidify Cal’s place as a national player. More important, it would mean increased attendance and revenue, which could fund the sports that are in jeopardy because of the drastic cuts in state funds.

For now, Tedford is a god around the Bay Area, approaching the genius status Bill Walsh enjoyed when he led the 49ers out of obscurity. Tedford captured Cal fans’ hearts two years ago when he used a gadget play on his very first snap as head coach to produce a spectacular 71-yard touchdown. Tedford has not given them a chance to revoke their allegiance since.

It wasn’t one thing Tedford did that turned things around. It was everything he did.

“Coach takes care of every little detail,” Rodgers said, “from the way we travel to the way we dress, the way we practice, the way we do walk-through.”

The way Cal practices is symbolic of the change. Cal practices now are clean, focused and productive.

“Coach always says, everybody has a will to win, but not everyone has the will to prepare to win,” Cal receiver Chase Lyman said.

The Bears have not played a single game under Tedford in which they looked ill-prepared. The team’s performance has been as consistent as Tedford’s expressionless face regardless of when and where it plays. Since Tedford took over, the Bears are 9-5 at home and 9-5 on the opponent’s home field, with three of those road losses being by four points or less.

It’s no accident that Cal went from minus-17 in turnover margin the year before Tedford arrived to plus-18 in his first season at Cal.

“Every single practice we talk about ball security,” Tedford said. “If the ball comes away from the rib cage of a runner, if you see any space, he’s going to hear about it whether he fumbles or not,” Tedford said.

J.J. Arrington ranks fifth in the nation in rushing this season, but he went two consecutive games without a single carry last year because he was stuck in Tedford’s doghouse for fumbling a few times. People don’t realize how much Tedford relies on that running game.  Having coached seven quarterbacks who later started games in the NFL and transforming Kyle Boller from a three-year bust into a first-round NFL draft pick has obscured the fact that Cal led the Pac-10 in rushing last season and ranks sixth nationally in that category this year.  Rodgers got most of the credit for last year’s upset of USC by completing 17 of 21 first-half passes, but the key was Adimchinobe Echemandu’s 147 yards rushing, making him the first player in 17 games to surpass 100 yards against the Trojans.

In fact, Tedford seems to have a pretty good read on Pete Carroll’s defense. The Bears shot out to a 21-3 lead over USC before losing 30-28 two years ago, and, of course, Cal handed USC its only loss last season.

That’s why Cal has a chance against the Trojans on Saturday, even though USC has the advantages of revenge motivation, an extra week of preparation because of a bye and the home field.

If Cal wins, Tedford’s celebrity rises further, making the wealthy college programs more interested and adding pressure to Cal’s fund-raising effort to accommodate Tedford’s wishes for new digs. Maybe another win would spur contributions, too.

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